leigh

See also: Leigh, léigh, and lèigh

English

Alternative forms

• lea, ley
• (in personal and place names) -leigh, -ley, -ly

Etymology

From Middle English legh, lege, lei (“clearing, open ground”) from Old English lēah (“clearing in a forest”) from Proto-Germanic *lauhaz (“meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówkos (“field, meadow”). Akin to Old Frisian lāch (“meadow”), Old Saxon lōh (“forest, grove”) (Middle Dutch loo (“forest, thicket”); Dutch -lo (suffix forming place names)), Old High German lōh (“covered clearing, low bushes”), Old Norse ló (“clearing, meadow”). More at Waterloo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: lea, Lea, Lee, Leigh, li, Li, Lie

Noun

leigh (plural leighs)

1. (archaic) A meadow.

Derived terms

• Bentleigh

Manx

Etymology

From Old French lei (“law”), ultimately from Latin lēx.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ləi̯/, [lɛi]
• Homophone: leih

Noun

leigh f (genitive singular leigh, plural leighaghyn or leighyn)

1. law

Derived terms

• fo-leigh
• leighder

Middle English

Verb

leigh

1. alternative form of laughen